RESEARCH:
HISTORY OF MUSIC
The
Evolution of Music Videos
Over the time music videos underwent a
massive development and overtime drastically evolved together with the
technology and audiences. Modern videos have become a way of polysemy and help
the artist to sell their work to global audiences. They are visually more
appealing and technically advanced in contrast to traditional, basic videos. This
allows artists to experiment with different editing techniques to enhance their
image or narrative of the video. Today’s
music videos can have a variety in terms of location. Many music videos will
constantly jump from one setting to another in order to keep the viewer
interested and alert. This is also done through costumes and other aspects of
mise en scene. In addition, music videos now use many cinematography techniques
to add variations to their music videos. In the past the artist could only
afford few similar shots using basic equipment. However today artists utilize cranes,
dolly shots, hand held cameras etc to get the best angles/ shots of themselves.
Furthermore, today there is more variation in the types of music videos, which
helps to appeal to broader audiences. There are different genres and types
(concept, performance or narrative videos) to fulfill even the most refined
tastes. For example, now the viewer has a choice between approx. 1, 264 genres
whereas before only the popular artist got to create music videos that got
aired and consumed by audiences. In terms of consumption, modern music videos
are accessible on different platforms whereas before TV was the only way to see
a music video. This allows even the niche audiences to see videos of their favorite
artist. Simultaneously, today’s music videos have different purpose then
before. Today a video can be used as a way of film promotion, advertisement or
product sell. In contrast the music videos in the past were commonly just to
entertain. These are just some of the key examples of the development in the
music video industry over time and simultaneously shows how they are under constant
development.
Music
Video Timeline
1929:
Bessie Smith, Saint Louis Blues – The song remains
a fundamental part of jazz music to this date. It is considered to be one of
the first music videos ever and was. The video includes Bessie who sings by the
bar, thus inventing the primary idea of a music video and lip sync. The video
was shot with simple cuts and shots due to the lack of equipment and knowledge
about videos. The video is actually a part of a film with Bessie. The video applies Goodwin's Theory through the performance and lip sync which could classify 'Saint Louis Blues' as a music video. 
1940:
Walt Disney, Fantasia. Disney created an animated
film which is accompanied by classical music. The soundtrack was recorded with
multiple audio channels. It was the first film to be shown in stereophonic
sound. Fantasia was partly classified as a music video due to the visuals
accompanied by sound which are conventions of a music video. In addition, it
was breakthrough for its time to have visuals and audio together. Fantasia has a narrative and there is a relationship between the music and the visuals, as proposed by Goodwin. However, Walt Disney didn't create Fantasia to serve the purpose of a music video but a movie.
1950-60:
Tony Bennett, Strangers in Paradise. Tony filmed
‘Stranger in Paradise’ in Hyde Park, London and was distributed across both UK
and US television. Despite Bessie Smith performance and her video, he claimed
that it was him who created the first ever video because he intended on using
his song specifically for a video rather than a film like Bessie and his work
got distributed on television. There is a clear star image, performance and genre characteristics which supports Goodwin's theory and classifies Tony's work as a music video.
1964:
The Beatles. This was a crucial moment in the
development of music videos. ‘A Hard Days Night’ by Beatles was released and is
argued to be the basic set out and beginning of contemporary music videos. It
had included a narrative with fast paced cuts and a variety of cinematography.
It has set a new era of videos and artist tried to come up with narratives and
attract audiences.
1966-
1968: The Monkees. It was a TV show aired for two
years from 1966-68. Every episode had a short film which was created to
accompany songs by Monkees. This helped to develop the fundamentals of today’s
music videos and allowed practice for artist who made videos.
1966:
The Birth of ‘The Top of the Pops’. Top of the Pops
was a TV program created by the BBC. Its purpose was to promote singles. Due to
the limit the show had, artists had to compete in order to be aired which meant
that only famous or popular musicians were shown to the audiences.
1967:
Videos utilize Cinematic Techniques. Yet again The
Beatles took initiative and drastically changed the look of music videos. In
their video ‘Penny Lane’ they utilized effects similar to cinema and
film making. Elements like dramatic lighting, camera angles or rhythmic editing.
This started the era of edited music videos and professional film making to
accompany songs which is still continued today. These new features also support Goodwin's Theory of popular music videos.
1975:
Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody. Bohemian Rhapsody was the first ever video
specifically made to replace live performances on TV. Despite previous videos
made by Beatles, it was Queen who made a video for the purpose to be aired on
TV to their song. It was the very first video to be made on a video format and
set an example for other artists who started to create music videos more
frequently causing a large supply. The visuals matched the song and there was a clear star image and genre characteristics.
1981:
MTV Launch and development of music videos. to
match the large supply of music videos a full music channel was launched. The
introduction of MTV caused more artist to air their music video and people were
able to see more of them. The Buggles
released their video called ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ and it was aired as
the first ever on MTV. It was a high budget production and used ‘over-lay’
which was deemed as complex editing. 
1984:
Micheal Jackson, Thriller. Thriller has developed the concept of music
videos. It had a beginning, middle and end and simulated a short film. It is
still considered one of the best music videos ever made. The ‘Top of the Pops’
began to censor video that had controversial content, which is where censorship
began and is still continued today. Duran Duran’s ‘Girls on Film’ was censored
due to explicit clothing and promiscuity.
1980’s:
MTV and Music Success. 80’s was the time of rise in
music videos supply. Most for the artists made videos for their songs and
debuted on MTV. Madonna began to sell her music through politically and
socially controversial content which gained her global recognition and success.
Many directors started working on music videos in order to breakthrough in the
film industry.
How
have Music Videos Developed Over Time?
Over the decades, music videos went through
a drastic change and underwent various stimulus. These are some of the causes
for such radical evolution:
- · Technology/ Equipment Advancement: Over time the technology has developed and there were new inventions which helped to improve the quality of music videos. today you can view videos in HD quality because the filming equipment has improved and artist are able to purchase them. However, before there was only one type of camera and the quality was less effective. Furthermore, today artists are able to edit their videos professionally and have special effects through the use of green screens. They can create surreal imagery or experiment with the variety of effects or corrections. Whereas back in the day the technology was not advanced enough and people didn’t have the knowledge to create such effects. For example, bands like Coldplay utilized a series of green screens and special effects for their concept video Up and Up. The video is visually spectacular and appealing due to the excellent use of technology. Lastly the audio has also improved. Artist work in professional studios with high quality audio equipment and are allowed to edit their sound too.
- · The Distribution and Consumption: The distribution and consumption has also developed over time. there are various polysemy and synergy techniques which can help to promote a video but there are also many ways to distribute/air the video. Modern music videos are can be distributed across different social medias, including sites like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, which also promotes the video/ artist. This is an example of synergy. In addition, a music video can be aired on various music channels like MTV or VIVA but also viewed on YouTube, Vevo or Vimeo where the audience can see the video for free.
- · Star Image and Representation: Over the time artists, especially in popular culture, have underwent changes and generations of performers have changed the way they portray themselves in the music videos. This also depends on genre. For example, today most him hop artists will try to sell the rich lifestyle through their music videos. ‘Candy Shop’ by 50 Cent portrays expensive cars and jewelry in order to attract a particular audience and show off his lavish lifestyle, whereas in the beginning, artist did not have certain representations as the audience didn’t have formed their expectations of each genre.
- · Purpose of Music Videos: There are many purposes to a music video. At the beginning many artists created music videos to simply entertain the audience and breakthrough, however today there are many more ways a video can enhance one’s career. It can be a way of maintaining a bond with the audience or establishing yourself as a solo artist. On the other hand, it can also be an excellent tool to sell the artist’s music. Many modern videos use controversy to gain publicity through their videos, like Robin Thicke in ‘Blurred Lines’. This is a way if polysemy and have gained Robin global media attention and cheap publicity. Lastly a video can also be used as a promotion for another media, like a film. Alicia Keys created a soundtrack for Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014) ‘It’s on Again’ with snapshots of the film.
Conclusion
After researching into the history of music
videos I have a good understanding of the developments the industry underwent
throughout the years. I gained essential knowledge which will help me with the
general context and understanding of the industry. Overall it is obvious that there
are still debates on who created the first video and people have different views.
I believe that Tony Bennett was the first one to create an official music
video. This is because his ‘Stranger in Paradise’ video had elements that classify
as a music video. The clip also follows some of Goodwin’s characteristics like
star image. It was also distributed to UK and US which what today’s artist do
when distributing their works. The history of music videos also allowed me to
see how the those influenced modern artist and how it continues to evolve.
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